Education notebook: Holmes principal in St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Holmes Elementary Principal Steve Barnes will be the Principal on Parade at Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Barnes will ride in the parade with fourth-grader Makai Johnson, the student who nominated him.

Holmes Elementary received $1,000 from Spokane Teachers Credit Union and the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, co-sponsors of the Principal on Parade contest.

Spokane students place in CyberPatriot

Spokane high school students recently competed in CyberPatriot, a national cyber defense competition.

In the Open Division, the Lewis and Clark High School CyberTigers, Matt Polyak, George Polyak, Wyatt Stone, Lars Benedetto, Hnia Xiong and Richard Phillips, competed at the Regional Round of Competition, held March 8 after winning a slot at state.

Rogers’ Pirate Konnections received first place in the state in the Open Division. The Rogers team is Chevy Swanson, Tim Johnson, Ciara Walker and Zack Bonser.

Second place in the state in the Open Division went to North Central’s Black Team. The NC team is Thomas Colvin, Keith Stack, Jefferson VanWagenen and Noah Terherst.

In the Services Division, Rogers’ Air Force Junior ROTC Flying Pirates were awarded first place in the state. The Flying Pirates are Viktor Daranutsa and Hannah Donnelly.

Mead jazz choir to play in Monterey

The Mead High School Jazz Choir will perform at the Next Generation Festival, March 28-30. The event will be in Monterey, Calif., and is part of the Monterey Jazz Festival competition stage.

The Mead group sent in audition recordings in the fall. Faculty at the Berklee College of Music in Boston critiqued the recordings; Mead’s choir placed in the top eight high school choirs in the country.

The festival will feature the top middle school, high school, and collegiate jazz choirs, jazz bands, and combos from across the United States.

Region’s dance teams to compete at state

Spokane area dance teams are headed to the state competition March 28-29 at the Sun Dome in Yakima.

The Districts Dance/Drill Competition, held March 8-9, included dance teams from Ferris, along with Lewis and Clark, Mt. Spokane, Shadle, Rogers, and West Valley high schools. All of the area schools that competed at districts scored high enough to compete at the state competition.

‘Les Miserables’ at Mt. Spokane

Mt. Spokane High School drama students will perform the Broadway favorite “Les Misérables” in the Performing Arts Theatre, beginning Wednesday at 7 p.m. The production will continue March 20-21, and March 26-29 at 7.

Based on the 1862 novel by Victor Hugo, the musical is set in 19th century France and tells the tale of Jean Valjean, played by Travis Widmer, who has been released from prison after 19 years for stealing bread to feed his starving sister and her family and trying to escape. Eight years later, Valjean has assumed a new identity as a wealthy factory owner and mayor. His employee, Fantine, played by Elsie Story and Lisa DePledge, is exposed by other workers for sending money to her illegitimate child, Cosette, played as a child by Mountainside Middle school student, Annika Johnson, and played as a grown woman by Mt. Spokane’s Gracee McClellan.

Desperate for money, Fantine sells her locket, her hair and turns to prostitution to pay the monthly allowance to the greedy innkeepers Madame Thenardier, played by Dallas Blenz, and her husband Monsieur Thenardier, played by Grayson Sinclair and Nick Lindsey. Dying in the hospital, Fantine shares her story with Valjean, who promises to rescue Cosette from the gluttonous, abusive Thenardiers. Les Miserables is an epic story of survival of the human spirit; audiences will be moved and captivated by the show.

Other cast members include Blake Countryman as Javert; Bridget Stapleton as Eponine; Barrett Soth as Marius; Frank Sinclair as Enjolras; and Landon Elder as the Bishop.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors and may be purchased at the theater office at (509) 465-7385 in the business office.

NWC to perform ‘Fiddler on the Roof’

Drama students at Northwest Christian Schools will perform the classic musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” beginning tonight at 7 p.m. in the school’s chapel, located at 5104 E. Bernhill Road in Colbert.

The show, set in the small village of Anatevka, is a tale of a father’s love for his family and his attempt to maintain their Jewish traditions among severe oppression and changing times. Tevye, a milkman, played by Noah Raver, must cope with his strong-willed daughters, played by Sadie Garner, Chloe Baughn, Abby Peterson, Alexandrine Perkins and Olivia Roth, while instilling the importance of tradition in their Jewish community during the growing anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia.

Other cast members include Vanessa Amado as Golde; Chris Wray as Lazar Wolf; Kaleigh Gable as Fruma Sarah; and Stephanie Brown as Yente.

The show will continue Friday, Wednesday, March 20, and March 21 at 7. There will be a matinee performance on Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for people ages 18 and younger. A dinner theater benefit performance will be held on Saturday at 6 p.m. Cost is $35 per person.